A retired Republican senator from North Dakota accused of traveling to Prague to pay for sex with a minor used state money to finance at least three trips to that city and other European destinations.
State Senator Ray Holmberg, 79, was arrested and released Monday after pleading not guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court in Fargo. His trial is scheduled for December 5th.
Prosecutors say Holmberg, who served in the Chamber for 45 years, repeatedly traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, from June 2011 to November 2016 to pay for sex with a person under 18.
North Dakota School Boards Association travel records show Holmberg used public funds to travel to Prague, Czech Republic, and other cities, including Amsterdam and Berlin, in 2011, 2018 and 2019.
The trips were organized through the Germany-based teacher exchange program Global Bridges, which was funded by the North Dakota Legislature.
Holmberg traveled twice with teachers and also on independent trips where he was invited, such as to a forum, annual meeting or symposium, Jon Martinson said
The indictment accuses Holmberg of traveling to Prague “from or about June 24, 2011 to or about November 1, 2016… with the intent to engage in illegal sexual conduct.”
One of the travel documents for the funded trips lists June 24, 2011 as the departure date to Prague and other cities.
The North Dakota Legislature donated money to the state’s Department of Public Education, which essentially gave it to Global Bridges to fund the trips of teachers and lawmakers.
State Rep. Bob Martinson said he chose the lawmakers who took part in the trips, usually a combination of men and women, House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, to create “a balanced group of people who attend “We were interested in learning and everyone would get along.” It wouldn’t be a political trip.
Holmberg “developed a really good relationship with Global Bridges, and they liked him and asked him to go to these meetings.” “They wanted him to be involved,” Martinson said.
His brother, the association’s former executive director, Jon Martinson, was the project manager and helped select teachers for the trips.
Photos on Holmberg’s Facebook page show him traveling across Europe over the past decade, including to Slovakia and France.
Holmberg traveled twice with teachers and also on independent trips where he was invited, such as to a forum, annual meeting or symposium, Jon Martinson said.
State Senator Ray Holmberg, 79, was arrested and released Monday after pleading not guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court in Fargo
He said he didn’t know how many trips Holmberg took as part of the program.
The trips are beneficial for lawmakers because they gain knowledge on topics such as energy and international relations, Jon Martinson said.
Bob and Jon Martinson said they didn’t know what Holmberg was accused of in Prague.
“My lawyer tells me not to talk to anyone because I’m such a criminal, so I’m following my lawyer’s advice,” Holmberg told reporters on Wednesday.
Bob Martinson called the allegations in the indictment “terribly sad.” Holmberg has been a friend for more than 40 years, he said.
The indictment, which also notes that Holmberg used pseudonyms, says that from November 2012 to March 2013 he received and attempted to obtain images depicting child sexual abuse. To solicit images, Holmberg used the pseudonym Sean Evans, reports The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead .
Holmberg served for nearly five decades until he resigned last year after The Forum revealed that he exchanged dozens of text messages with a person jailed on charges related to child sex abuse images.
Holmberg is not married. In a 1996 Bismarck Tribune profile, he is described as a “single father of two.”
Prosecutors said in a statement that Holmberg, who served in the chamber for 45 years, repeatedly traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, from June 2011 to November 2016 to pay for sex with a person under 18
Travel records from the North Dakota School Boards Association show that former Sen. Ray Holmberg used public funds to travel to Prague, Czech Republic, and other cities, including Amsterdam and Berlin, in 2011, 2018 and 2019
He was chairman of the powerful Senate Budget Committee, which prepares budgets.
Holmberg announced in March 2022 that he would not run for re-election. He cited stress and “a weakened ability to concentrate on the matters at hand and to recall events effectively” before ultimately resigning.
Police searched his Grand Forks home in November 2021 and seized video discs and other items.
The charges come after Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier pleaded guilty in federal court last month to six counts of possessing images depicting child sexual abuse and one count of receiving and distributing such images.
According to forum reports, Morgan-Derosier was the person who texted Holmberg from prison.
State Rep. Bob Martinson said he selected the lawmakers who went on the trips, usually a combination of men and women
The charges come after Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier pleaded guilty in federal court last month to six counts of possessing images depicting child sexual abuse and one count of receiving and distributing such images
Morgan-Derosier is scheduled to be sentenced in January. A spokesman for the two federal public defenders who represented Morgan-Derosier did not immediately respond to a telephone message about his case.
He took dozens of federally funded trips across the U.S. and abroad over the last decade, according to lawmaker travel records.
Holmberg resigned last year after The Forum reported dozens of text messages he exchanged with a man in prison who accused him of child sexual abuse images.
A state panel voted unanimously Thursday to suspend Holmberg’s lifetime teaching license, with the intent of revoking it immediately if he pleads guilty or is convicted of a charge based on the facts underlying the case, the motion states in meeting minutes.
Holmberg, who is retired, worked in Grand Forks Public Schools from 1967 to 2002, including as a teacher, child search coordinator and counselor.